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Saturday, February 8, 2014

The house saga, and an ode to winter

Hello, all! I just wanted to check in and tell you all what has been happening. Our house has been on the market for 65 days now, and we recently dropped the price 8k to 197k. We really feel bad about the price after all the updates we've done, but we are also trying to be realistic about the soft market in Racine. Homes comparable to ours (although not as beautifully decorated/updated, of course!) are selling in the high 180s - so we are hopeful that dropping below the 200 mark is going to get us a new set of buyers. Our realtor is pretty confident we will sell in the low 190s, so we're hopeful about that. We are SO ready to sell, and have had nothing but great comments on the house, in fact we have two sets of buyers that really want our house, but have their own houses to sell. Isn't that always the way it goes?

This winter has not been kind to us. We just get more and more snow, and the sub zero days are awful. It will warm up and snow, then the ice and snow will melt, then it is below zero and everything is ice. We don't ever feel like we have a weekend, it is always spent cleaning and shoveling. Our beautiful patio is definitely not a selling point right now!

The shared driveway is still the number one issue for potential buyers, which is funny, because the shared driveway has saved my life this winter! Our neighbors are retired, and they take care of every snowfall for me while Shaun is away during the week. If I didn't have them, there is just no way I could get the snow shoveled and keep track of Ashford. That kid does love to join the shoveling fun, though!

The winter doesn't always seem as bad when you get to see it through your child's eyes.

And the snow does make for beautiful photos during the day...

...and at night. So, there's that. (I still don't like you, snow)

We have an open house scheduled for tomorrow, and I have a question for you all...should we have Shaun's famous homemade cookies and water bottles available? Or is that a pointless expense/effort?

I'm not a real estate agent, nor have I ever sold my house, but cookies couldn't hurt. Having that smell in the kitchen could help? People could picture themselves making cookies there? I'm an optimist ;)Good good luck - fingers crossed for you!!

The cookies totally sold our last house. We made them for any second showings and word got out with realtors (they were excited someone was actually doing it) and they began pushing people to check out our house. The person who ended up purchasing our house (only 2.5 months on the market -- so maybe you are close!) didn't originally consider looking into it but her hungry realtor pushed her and she loved it.

Also a little photo album of non-snowy photos on the counter next to the cookies could be a great addition. Your house is beautiful and it would be a shame to not get the "full credit" for all of your hard work!

I've always heard that a house that smells like fresh baked cookies sell quicker. My realtor friend, always suggest baking cookies when showing an open house because it gives that "home" feeling to a buyer. Best of luck!!

One thing we did in selling our house was buy a set of blank notes, and hang one in each room with a ribbon - it had a listing of all the things we'd done to update the room (things like replaced carpeting, updated electric, etc) - our realtor said people really enjoyed them and looked forward to reading each one once they started. We also created a binder with copies of our property taxes, utility bills, photos of before/afters, photos of the house during all seasons, local restaurant menus, neighborhood events, etc. It had a lot of information in it and people enjoyed looking through it -- and actual copies of the utility bills were a big hit.

Good luck! We sold our house in a terrible market (right when the housing bubble crashed), but we got asking price -- you have a lovely house and you'll get the right person soon!

I know you already changed the price, but I'd have considered dropping to 200K flat. That way, your house shows up in the searches whether agents are looking for something in a 200-215K budge, OR a 980-200K budget. 200 tends to be one of those magic search numbers that can show up on both the low and the high end of a search. Make sense?

How much effort you put into the open depends on how much effort your agent put into advertising it. And still, if the weather is nasty, you may not get a lot of walk-throughs. :/ Fortunately, though, it only takes ONE buyer! Cookies wouldn't hurt, but they won't affect whether or not someone decides to put in an offer. The most important things you can do is make sure it looks spotless and smells good. I'm sure your house shows beautifully!

When we sold our house our agent had us write a letter about what was great about the location and house. You could tell them about how it's been featured in a blog, how much you've loved updating it and how you brought a lovely little boy into the world in that house. You could also mention the shared driveway benefit--which they'd have no idea about unless you share. :) Our house sold one week after we did the letter! Good luck!

About Me

My name is Sara. I am a home owner/renovator, photographer, and stay at home mom in the Chicago area trying to cram all kinds of projects into the time my sons are at school. Ashford is 7, and our second baby Zach just turned 4, so things are pretty busy around here! I like slightly inappropriate humor, craft beer, and stalking house blogs. I love starting new DIY projects and sometimes hate finishing them. I love taking portraits of families, children and couples whenever I can. This blog is all about the projects my husband and I tackle, the projects that fizzle, and the funny things that happen to us along the way.